Unlikely Partners
by Stormy1x2
Summary: [xover with Transformers] After the Decepticons trash a downtown NYC building, the Autobots are sent to help the humans, only to find a surprise in a hidden subbasement. Sideswipe may have met his match.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Unlikely Partners, 1/2

**Author:** Stormy1x2 (travelingstorm)  
**Rating:** PG

**Fandom:** TMNT/Transformers

**Word Count (Fic Portion)**: 2623

**Summary: **Sideswipe discovers a 'surprise' in a familiar building in downtown NYC.

**Notes:** Done as part of lj's fanfic100 themes, theme #25 - **Strangers**. A fusion of the 2007 movie and old school Gen 1 (Season 2ish) because it has Sideswipe in it, and makes references to events in the movie. Pre-read by Sabrina (**okamimyrrhibis)**.

**----- **

Sideswipe raised one of his optic ridges at the sheer mess left behind. It was the same thing every time. Decepticons would try and take over a power plant, an oil refinery, or some other industrial area in an attempt to procure a higher-quality energon for themselves. Then the Autobots would be alerted, either via Teletran's monitoring system, or from a wily human who somehow managed to avoid capture and notify the authorities – who would then contact Optimus Prime and beg for help.

Sideswipe didn't care one way or the other – his job was to reduce Megatron's followers into scrap metal, and if the circumstances creating that window of opportunity was starting to follow a familiar tune, well, it made little difference to him. Unlike the other Autobots, he and his brother Sunstreaker had little love for the flesh-creatures of earth. Too slaggin' delicate, all of them. He just wanted to have a good fight.

"Sideswipe? Have all the humans been rescued?" Prowl's voice came over his radio, brisk and efficient, yet concerned for the humans. Sideswipe rolled his optics.

"Just scanning now, Prowl," he reported back, fighting back a wave of lethargy that swept over his circuits. It had been a short battle, but a long drive to get to New York where Starscream and his Seeker squad had attacked a large building in the downtown area. From what he had managed to overhear, apparently the building had been radiating some kind of strange energy. Eager to exploit any and all energy sources, Megatron had ordered Starscream to check it out.

Sideswipe scowled. It was easy for the Decepticons to pull something like this off – they at least could fly across the country without breaking what the humans called a 'sweat'. While he did have his jet pack, it wasn't meant for long distances, and since Sunstreaker had been assigned to NYC with him, he'd had no other option but to drive. Speaking of the pansy...

"Are you finished yet? Primus, how long can it take to scan a single building for bio-signatures?"

_Right on time_. Sideswipe smirked as his twin stomped around the other side of the damaged building. The bright yellow Lamborghini was holding his hands out in front of him gingerly, glaring at the dust and rubble coating them. "What'sa matter Sunny? Haven't you heard that perfection takes time?"

"Except in cases where it's instantaneous, such as the day of my creation," Sunstreaker shot back. "Did you finish or what? The local authorities want to know if it's safe to move in and start their investigations."

"Hold your circuits, 'Streaker." Sideswipe rolled his optics again – a habit that had Ratchet threatening to lock them in place if he ever caught Sideswipe doing it again in his presence – and continued his sweep of the building. There had been surprisingly few humans in the building when he'd arrived, but he had noticed a few dormant human-shaped units that he'd identified as robotic in nature.

He'd been vaguely impressed. He hadn't been aware that human technology was at the level needed to construct such advanced mechanisms. It was a good thing – it made for less squishy targets for Starscream to kill or kidnap.

_Negative, negative, negative—hold up a sec._ Sideswipe crouched down, aiming his scanners in a more focused, tightly controlled beam, aiming just below the building, under the worst of the rubble.

"Sides?"

"There's something," Swideswipe murmured. "But it's not registering as completely human." He intensified the beam as much as he could. His scanners were good, but not top of the line – he was a warrior, not a technician, or a medic who would require a higher quality.

"So a human left its mongrel in the building." Sunstreaker folded his arms, scowling crossly. "We were told to help the humans, not their pets."

"Stuff it, Buttercup. It's too big to be a dog or cat." Sideswipe was curious, a trait that usually got him into a great deal of trouble. Not that he minded, though. It also gave him a great deal of fun, once a use was determined for whatever caught his attention. Reaching out, he gently brushed away some of the larger chunks of masonry and I-beams that had crumpled and folded under the Decepticon attack. Chalky white powder coated his arms, a nice addition to the dents and scratches he'd sustained during the battle, but he wasn't as fussy as his prissy sibling. "It's in one of the lower levels – this place has a couple basement levels that aren't on the blueprints we were sent."

Sunstreaker didn't say anything, but Sideswipe heard him shift a bit, just enough so that he could glare at where Sideswipe was digging; a sure-fire sign he was interested, despite himself.

"If you fall into a sinkhole, I am going to sit here and laugh at you and take pictures," Sunstreaker promised.

_Yep, definitely interested._ Clearing away more debris revealed a surprisingly large, hollow area that he could fit into, and Sideswipe lowered himself down, still tracking that elusive signature on his scanners. "Back in a second, bro."

"Pictures, Sides," came the retort. "Many, many pictures. To be hung all over the Ark. Possibly with unflattering, digital alterations." Sideswipe grinned, hearing the unspoken '_be careful, you smelting slagheap_' and disappeared under the surface.

Daylight still streamed in through the large gap he slid through, but there were still long tunnels of darkness stretching out in every direction, the broken mouths of which leaked various fluids into the yawning chasm below. Starscream had sent a few of his missiles rocketing towards the building, blowing away the top half and severely damaging the property surrounding it. Broken wires, split pipes and crumbling cement encircled the pit he was in; he noted the bottom of the pit was about one hundred meters down, into which sewage, oil and other fluids were emptying.

He activated his headlights, letting them illuminate the areas the daylight couldn't reach. One of the tunnels stretched off into the direction of the destroyed building. An underground access? It was too short for him to walk through, but it was wide enough that he could shimmy forward on his forearms, letting his legs drag behind him. It would make for cramped quarters, but still manageable. Any chance of zooming through it in his Lamborghini form was shot to the smelting pits – the floor was broken up and cracked, huge slabs of concrete and debris littering the area. It'd be easier to crawl through and break up or move the bits aside by hand.

_Good thing I'm not claustrophobic_. With an internal sigh – another human trait he'd unconsciously picked up - he radioed his coordinates back up to Sunstreaker, and then hoisted himself into the tunnel.

The signal he was getting wasn't far away. Not even one hundred and fifty feet down the tunnel. He saw doors along the corridor, some open, some closed. No life signs though, so he kept going, reaching out to tap open the closed doors, just in case. There were a lot of the robotic units he'd noticed earlier, all dressed alike in some kind of dark uniform, like a second outer layer – _skin_, he corrected himself. Shoving another concrete slab aside, crumbling most of it as he did so, he continued on.

Finally he reached the door where the life form readings were coming from. He couldn't hear any signs of movement. "Hello, ladies and/or gentlemen," he called out. "If you're next to the door, beware of the fact I'm gonna open it now." There was no answer. Well, if they were injured and in stasis – _unconscious_ – they wouldn't be able to answer, now would they?

Shrugging, Sideswipe pulled the handle, ripping the door off its hinges easily. His high beams lit up the rooms interior, illuminating a huddled figure in the far corner. "Yo, this is a rescue, understand? Are you hurt?"

He hoped it wasn't too serious. He didn't have much experience with injured humans; when Spike Witwhickey, the earthling he playfully referred to as Bumblebee's 'pet', got hurt, it always drew panic from the VW Bug and resulted in an immediate trip to Ratchet in med-bay who would determine if a trip to a human hospital was necessary. As Sideswipe didn't have much interaction with the human, all he knew about the injuries they could sustain was that they leaked. To reiterate, he was not as prissy as his brother, but he wasn't looking forward to a car wash from the inside out.

The pile of human parts in the corner shifted but didn't move. Sideswipe stuck his hand in the doorway, tapping the floor to get it's attention. "Hey, you! You all right?"

Another shift, and then a head poked up from behind an arm. A green arm. Sideswipe blinked. The head was green too. And lacked a nasal structure. Sideswipe was not a leading authority on earthlings like 'Bee or Hound, but this didn't seem right to him. Did humans even come in green?

"I must be seeing things," the..._it _said, somewhat thickly. "I'm being rescued by a giant robot. I think I hit my head harder then I thought."

"I'm starting to wonder if a few of my synapses have been knocked loose," Sideswipe admitted, staring at the thing curiously. "You don't look like a typical human."

A harsh laugh escaped the creature. Laughs, which quickly turned into even harsher coughs, and something wet and red flew from it's mouth. It wiped its chin with a band wrapped around its arm and shook its head gingerly. "And you aren't my typical figment of imagination. Ol' Tin-Grin got me good." It coughed again, and more blood was hacked out onto the floor.

_That did not sound good_. "Can you make it over here?" Sideswipe asked. "I can carry you out but I can't fit in the room. If I take any of the walls apart, the structure could collapse."

"That wouldn't be good." The creature groaned, and rolled over, pushing itself up. "Coming. Slowly. But coming."

Sideswipe noted the bruising and contusions all over its body. The back of the creature seemed deformed. No – armored. _Those look like armor plates_. A covering or body shell. A quick search of the Internet yielded an answer. "You're a turtle!"

"You win the door prize," the turtle wheezed, slowly, painfully crawling on its hands and knees. "This is gonna take a minute, Mr Concussion-induced hallucination."

"No rush." Sideswipe winced in sympathy as he saw the swollen fingers – _only__three fingers_ – on its right hand. The turtle was using its palm to brace itself on. "I'll alert the human authorities and they can call the medical officers for you--"

"_No!_" The turtle's head shot up and Sideswipe was taken aback at the panicked look in its eyes. Fear radiated out at him. "Don't call. No one."

"You need medical assistance," Sideswipe said matter-of-factly.

"No calls," the turtle gasped again. "Please."

"...fine. But hurry up." Sideswipe's radio crackled, and Sunstreaker's voice filled the room.

"'Sides, what's going on? Fall into recharge on the job again?"

"Ha, ha, Sunny. No, I found a--"

"No!" The turtle whimpered again, staring at him pitifully.

_Slag it._

"...another room to check," Sideswipe said smoothly. "Keep your servos on." Ending communications, he glared mildly at the turtle. "What's your issue?"

"My hallucination listened to me," the turtle said wondrously. "This ain't a dream, huh?"

"I'm one hundred percent real mech," Sideswipe assured him. "You're telling me you've never heard of the Autobots before?"

The creature blinked owlishly, pausing in it's trek across the floor. "Seen ya on the news a few times. You don't live in New York though, right?"

"Portland," Sideswipe said.

"Yeah, well, we got enough on our hands just watching out for NYC," the turtle grumbled dazedly. "I don't even wanna think about the world ending in Portland."

"We?"

"My brothers." The turtle resumed its crawl. It was only about two meters from Sideswipe's over-sized hand. "I got three of 'em."

"I have a twin, myself," Sideswipe commented absently. As soon as the creature reached his hand, he'd scoop him up, get out of there, and let it go where it wanted. He was starting to feel cramped. "You just heard his dulcet tones on my radio."

"Didn't know robots could have brothers." The turtle reached him finally, and collapsed in a heap. Sideswipe carefully scooped him up, curling his metal fingers over the shell. "No blood, ya know? Aren't you built?"

"Sparked. My brother was sparked at the same time. It's an almost unheard of thing in our race. That makes us special." Sideswipe brought the turtle out of the room. Up close, he could make out the bright green tint of its skin, and noticed that some of the mottled spots he thought were bruising looked to be natural markings. Still, there were lots of cuts, and red fluid – _blood_ – still leaked out in several places. "You know, you still need a doctor. Why are you so afraid?"

The turtle raised its head and looked at him wearily. "Your eyes are working, right? I'm the cute one, but I still don't exactly look human. Big shell, green skin and all that."

"So?" Sideswipe blinked his optics. "What's that got to do with anything? Hound told me there are millions of different species on this planet."

"Yeah, but none like me and my bros." The turtle smiled lopsidedly. "We're like, genetic mutations. Part turtle, part human. If a doctor or scientist saw me, he'd lock me up and do experiments or something."

"That's barbaric!" Sideswipe frowned. But then a memory circuit triggered and he recalled Bumblebee's debriefing he and Sunstreaker had read when they'd arrived on earth. Apparently the government, before signing a treaty with the Autobots, had captured Bumblebee in an effort to discover what he was. The methods they had used had... not been pleasant.

"Yeah, well." The turtle coughed again and red flecks now coated Sideswipe's palm. "Uh, sorry."

_Argh_. "No problem." Sideswipe began to wriggle backwards through the corridor. "Look, I'll get our chief medical officer Ratchet to look at you, how's that? We've seen thousands of other life forms across the galaxy – you're not the first. Primus, you're not even the strangest-looking."

"Or you can let me go outside here and I can contact my brothers. My bro is a genius – he can fix me up." The turtle cocked his head at the autobot. "If I can use your radio, that is. " He blinked. "The radio that is in your chest because you're actually a car." he grinned weakly. "This is very cool. _You_ are very cool."

Sideswipe had to grin at that. "Yes, yes, I am--" His radio crackled.

"-_-SIDESWIPE! _Incoming!"

_What the slag? _"Sunny?"

Before his brother could answer, Sideswipe felt the fuel in his system freeze in horror. The sounds of very familiar engines whined overhead, easily heard by Autobot auditory sensors. "Starscream!"

"Huh?" The turtle started to say something else, but then the foundation around them groaned and shuddered. A huge explosion sounded somewhere overhead, and debris suddenly collapsed inward on the tunnel. Sideswipe only had time to close his fist, cupping the other one over his hand to protect to fragile earthling. Then the roof completely caved in, thick plates of sheet metal slicing downwards, concrete slabs crushing down on his back and helm. Something hard and heavy struck a sensory plate in his head, and his body immediately began to shut down. The last thing he heard was a pained cry from the creature in his hand before it all went dark.

**----**

**End part 1**

Title refers to the odds of this happening, even in a cartoon verse.

Reviews always welcome and appreciated. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Unlikely Partners, 2/3

**Author:** Stormy1x2 (**travelingstorm**)  
**Rating:** PG  
**Fandom:** TMNT/Transformers  
**Word Count (Fic Portion)**: 3376  
**Summary: **Continuing from where we left off, Sideswipe is in a bit of a predicament. Good thing Mikey's there to lend a hand.

**Notes:** Done as part of lj's fanfic100 themes, theme #37 – **Sound**. A fusion of the 2007 movie and old school Gen 1 (Season 2ish) because it has Sideswipe in it, and makes references to events in the movie.

**Additional: **I've changed this a bit – it was supposed to be a 2-shot, but it just kept growing. :) As a result, it will now be a 3-parter. I'm sure you're all horrified by this. :)

Pre-read by Sabrina (**okamimyrrhibis**) who must have set turn-around time speed records. Thanks Sab!

X-posted to** tmntfanfic**, **tf2007fun **and my own livejournal.

----

Sunstreaker was not a patient mech. Standing around, waiting for his Saturn-sucking brother to finish playing underground, letting the acrid smoke fumes and free-floating bits of debris to mar his paint job – these were _not_ things he liked to do to pass the time.

His radio beeped and he brought the code up; a set of coordinates appeared in his field of vision. Sideswipe was just underneath him, entering a tunnel. He debated stomping his feet to dislodge a few extra rocks or something on his brother's head, but then decided that would be too immature. More of Sideswipe thing.

The local authorities were still huddled around the perimeter. Human paramedics were checking bystanders and locals who were injured in the Decepticon attack, as well as beginning preliminary investigations on the areas Sunstreaker had designated as safe. He folded his arms and glared at the ground. He was bored. Very bored.

He kicked idly at a slab of fallen masonry, ignoring the scowls and dirty looks from the cops nearby for disturbing a crime scene. Humans. Aside from a talented few in the field of automotive design, most had very poor taste in construction details. Particularly whoever had designed the building targeted by Starscream and his Seeker team. There were giant red shapes on the walls that resembled human feet – well, if the human had mated with a chicken. Well, maybe they had. From scanning the Internet one drab rainy day, he had come to the conclusion there were humans out there who would mate with almost anything. He rolled his optics. _Vertebrates_.

Micro-cycles went by. Sidewipe checked in and reported yet another room to check in. Sunstreaker passed the time by buffing the shine back into his shin guards – there was no telling what the chalk residue was doing to his paint job – and mentally tallying all the ways he was going to maim his sibling for the boredom he was being put through.

In the middle of polishing his forearm, his audio receptors picked up the high-pitched whine of a jet engine. His optics snapped upwards and he cursed in Cybertronian as his scanners registered a very familiar reading, coming in hard and fast.

Unsubspacing his gun, Sunstreaker waved at the humans to move. "Get back!" he shouted. Starscream had no compunctions about targeting humans in order to compromise an Autobot, and Sunstreaker was relieved to see the humans obey his order, scrambling backwards, shooting fearful looks at the sky as they tried to see the threat Sunstreaker had obviously picked up on.

He radioed in. "Optimus! Starscream came back!"

"Jazz and Ironhide are en route," Optimus replied immediately. "You and Sideswipe will have to hold them off until they get there."

Sunstreaker cursed. His sibling was not exactly in a position to be able to help him at the moment.

"Sunstreaker, do you copy?"

"...I copy, Prime," he said finally, watching the skies. Suddenly something fell from the clouds, honing in on him. His optics widened – _MISSILES!_

Whirling around, he grabbed two huge I-beams, chucking the first one at the incoming missile as hard as he could. His first strike was true, and the missile exploded in the air. Humans still watching, began screaming and running from the area. Sunstreaker could make out Starscream, circling around overhead. Then he cursed yet again, as this time, the jet fired off three missiles in rapid succession.

Sunstreaker hurled the other beam, but missed. Pulling his gun, he began firing, hoping to break the bombs up in midair. As he did so, he switched frequencies to warn his brother.

"_SIDESWIPE!_" he shouted, firing again. "Incoming!"

His blaster pulsed a laser through the heart of the second missile, pinpointing straight through the tip of the cone-shaped nose, exploding it into a million bits of shrapnel. The third one burst through the falling debris, heading for the remains of the building he was standing next to. Before he could blast it, a wave of energy washed over him, covering him in a purple light. His blaster powered down instantly. He tried to move his arm to check the readings but was shocked to realize he couldn't move.

_Starscream's null ray!_

With a growing sense of horror, he realized two things as the missile moved into its final swoop.

Number one – with his radio nullified, he couldn't warn Sideswipe about the missile about to explode over his head. And number two...

...this was going to _hurt_.

----

A surge of electricity racing through his central processor was what brought him out of stasis. Sideswipe felt his awareness come back gradually; internal sensors stuttering as his circuits came to flickering life, gradually growing stronger until, he was able to open his optics.

Whatever had hit him in his cerebral sensory bank had done a good job, but luckily, his internal repair system was top of the line. Outside of a little recalibration, his helm seemed to be in good enough shape that it would escape the wrath of Ratchet. His core systems though...he blanched at what his processors were telling him. He'd be lucky to escape a complete overhaul. At least his fuel lines were all intact, from what he could tell.

Internal repairs delivered what would amount to a human giving a swift kick in the hard drive, jolting his memory banks. Twisting his head around, he focused on the rubble covering his arms and hands. He could feel the weight of the turtle-human on the derma-plating covering his hands – the sensors there were incredibly sensitive. While there was no muscle movement from the creature, he could feel the heat of its body, too warm to be the cooling signs of death in humans he'd read about. He could also feel the trickling sensation of the creature's bodily fluids leaking from it, dripping between his digits into a red puddle under his hand. _Not good_.

Sideswipe tried to lift his left hand off his right one. Some of his nerve lines were damaged, he realized; his attempts resulted in a jerky, sporadic motion in his arm, until finally he more or less flopped it off the other, dislodging the rubble. _Now to open the hand_. Concentrating, sending every last bit of his determination into his processing commands, he was rewarded with a slow unfurling of his fingers.

The turtle was curled up in his palm, arms wrapped around its head. It was still breathing, something that made Sideswipe sigh in relief, though he had no lungs – and therefore no need – to breathe. It was still alive.

"Hey...turtle. You awake?" Well, his vocalizer escaped damage. That was a good thing. "Hey, come on – don't die on me now."

There was nothing. Sideswipe felt his emotion circuits dampen themselves slightly, but before he could do anything, a low moan came from the turtle.

"..ik'y..."

"What was that?" His audio receptors could pick up the sound of a Decepticon's jet engines hovering at twenty thousand feet, but it couldn't translate the garble that came out of the being's mouth.

"My name...s'Mikey," the turtle mumbled.

Sideswipe watched as the turtle – _Mikey_ - uncurled itself gingerly. The strange cloth banding's around its arms and face were red with blood, though they'd previously been identified as orange. "I'm Sideswipe. You're really hurt now, aren't you?"

Mikey gave him a weak grin. "Nah. Just a flesh wound."

That made Sideswipe laugh. He and Sunstreaker had been roped into a Monty Python marathon just a few weeks earlier; the Aerialbots were addicted to pop earth culture, and were relentless in the quest to educate the other Autobots on its importance in understanding the beings that populated the planet they were currently inhabiting. Whatever. Sideswipe just liked Holy Grail for the gratuitous – and completely fake – violence.

Still, this wasn't television. "Did you break any part of your structural support?"

The turtle blinked at him, confused. "Say what?"

Primus thank the stars themselves that humans had managed to devise a means of extracting information on just about anything. The Internet was a wonderful place. "Did you break any bones?" he clarified.

"Oh." The turtle thought about it for a second, moving its legs gingerly. "Well, my fingers ain't doin' so great, but that happened before all the booms and stuff. My ribs don't feel so hot either, but I think they're bruised, not broken." He grinned again. "All in all, I think I'm doin' good, all things considered."

"You're covered in your vital fluids," Sideswipe said flatly. "If I were leaking from my fuel lines, I would definitely not be 'doing okay'."

Mikey reached up and ran a hand lightly over his head. "Just some scratches," he said. "A little deeper then is probably healthy for me, but not serious. Head wounds always bleed a lot."

"If you say so." Satisfied that the turtle was not in any immediate danger of going off line permanently, he turned his attention to his internal processors, specifically, his radio. Attempts to contact Sunstreaker failed, which worried him. His radio was in rough shape, but according to his self-repair system, he – theoretically - should be able to reach at least Sunstreaker, who was the closest 'bot to him. He didn't have the power required to boost his signal strength for some reason--

"So Sideswipe... is this purple-y pink stuff, like, your blood or something? 'Cause, um, you seem to be leaking _your_ vital fluids too, if that's the case.""

Sideswipe blinked his optics, in surprise focusing on the cooling pool of energon forming under his torso. He hadn't noticed it, but it would explain the extreme weakness in his body. A micro-fuel tube must have severed somewhere in his chest. "Kind of."

The turtle – _Mikey_, he reminded himself again – looked a little uncomfortable. "So I'm thinking it's better off inside of you, huh?"

"You're thinking right." Sideswipe tried to shift a bit on to his side, just enough that he could see the damage, but there was too much debris pinning him down, and now that he was more aware, he could see his powering systems were dangerously close to redlining. "I think a fuel tube was cut."

"And that's a bad thing," Mikey nodded. "Too bad I don't have a giganto-sized band aid."

At that, Sideswipe perked up. "I do," he remembered. "It's in the area of my vehicle form that you'd call a 'glove box'."

Mikey stared at him. "You have band aids in your glove box?"

"No. But I do have the Transformer equivalent of an emergency first aid field kit." He tried to shift again, but only succeeded in dragging his right arm back over and pushing himself up on his elbow. His left arm, the one that had protected the turtle by covering his right hand, was free, but the nerve damaged he'd guessed at earlier was deteriorating further – he couldn't flex his fingers at all. "I just can't get to it."

Mikey pushed himself up, staggering to his feet. "Can I help you?" he asked. Fresh blood poured from his wounds, but the flow seemed muted somehow. Sideswipe surmised the turtle's own internal repairs were hard at work sealing the cracks in its flesh. "Where's the kit?" Mikey paused, staring at the Autobot. "Come to think of it, where's your glove box?"

"In my chest plate," Sideswipe told him. Pushed up, he freed up enough space that the turtle could crawl under him and reach through the broken windshields. "Can you reach it?"

"As long as you don't fall on me dude, we're all aces." Mikey crawled underneath him, disappearing from sight. Sideswipe could feel him gripping the paneling that surrounded the windshield, reaching through the shattered glass to his interior. It was almost disturbingly intimate, but he rationalized the necessity of the maneuver to preserve his own existence. "Oh, gross. You're bleeding all over me."

"Transformers don't have blood," Sideswipe corrected him.

"Whatever. It's dripping and it's slippery and sticky at the same time which is something I never thought was possible." The turtle's questing fingers found the glove box, and Sideswipe felt his subspace compartment open up. His audio receptors easily picked up the sound of the turtle's in-drawn breath. "Whoa...hello Star Trek."

Sideswipe groaned. "Did you find it yet?" He didn't know how much longer he could prop himself up. His arms were shaking slightly, his optics growing dimmer at the edges of his vision.

"I think so, if you mean am I reaching into a dark void - that's totally creeping me out, just so you know – and pulling out a box the size of Raph's motorcyle," Mikey grumbled. "It's heavy."

"Hurry,"Sideswipe urged him. "Can you lift it out?"

There was a pause, and then he heard a loud grunt of effort. He felt something fall and strike the windshield. Mikey's panting voice echoed from inside his chest compartment. "Okay, I pulled it partway out, but it's heavy and I can't carry it. If I move it a bit, it'll fall through the window and land under you. Is that okay?"

"Fine." His arms were definitely shaking now.

There was another pained sound from the turtle, a quick gasp that was swallowed just as quickly, and then the medic-box Ratchet had equipped both he and Sunny with came crashing to the ground. It was small compared to a typical box, but it was still over six feet long, a little over two feet wide. A minute later, it was being shoved out in front of him, the turtle pushing with all its remaining strength. "Okay," Mikey gasped, head hanging down as he tried to catch his breath. "Now what?"

"Open the box," Sideswipe directed. Before the turtle did anything, he needed to drink his emergency energon cube. He wouldn't be able to stay conscious long enough to hold himself up if he didn't, and if he fell while Mikey was attempting to patch him up, well... "Give me the cube. The one filled with the same colored liquid as the stuff on the floor."

"You drink your blood. That's disgusting." Mikey opened the box. Half of it was the same kind of black void, spacey-looking thing that had been in the Transformers chest. The other half was a cube filled with the pinkish water-like stuff. It didn't look very big. "Will that be enough to replace what you lost?"

Sideswipe chuckled weakly. "Not a chance. But it's not normal energon – it's super-compressed, highly concentrated. You drink this stuff any other time, and you'll--" he searched for an appropriate comparison. "--overdose, I think is the term. But in this case, it'll save my life."

"Gotcha." Mikey blinked. "Um, I don't think I can lift that, and you can't move your hands enough to get it up to your mouth."

_Slaggit. _Sideswipe growled. But before he could attempt to move anyway, the turtle was digging through the rubble. _What is he doing?_

"Eureka!" The turtle turned around, brandishing a large section of piping that had come down from the ceiling, severed by the falling sheet metal. "One jumbo-sized straw, coming your way!"

He stuck an end in the cube, and held the other end of the pipe out. Sideswipe grinned and leaned forward to catch the other end. A minute later, the box was empty, and Sideswipe felt a rush of energy go through his systems. "Whoa."

"What a rush, huh?" Mikey grinned at him. "But that's just gonna come right back out if we don't do something about your leaking 'vital fluids'."

Sideswipe nodded. "When you were getting the kit, you felt fuel dripping on you. Did you see where the line was cut?"

"...I think so," the turtle said. Sideswipe could hear the uncertainty in his voice. "I mean, it was pretty steady from just over my head."

The Lamborghini tried to calculate angles and realized that the leak must have been from one of the smaller fuel lines that fed into his central line, maybe two. It would explain why he hadn't bled out completely – the line itself was one of several, and the flow was distributed evenly among them all. "The line needs to be patched. In the kit should be another transparent box, with a black, tar-like substance inside. It hardens within thirty seconds of being exposed to the elements. You need to hold the tear as close together as possible and then smear it on top. In seconds it will stop the flow, and then completely harden."

Mikey nodded. Reaching into the blackness of the box, he had to use both hands and brace his legs to tug the box out. Sideswipe knew the box wasn't heavy by human standards, but it was just as big as the emergency energon cube. After a minute, Mikey fell to the ground, unable to pull it out. "Umm... this isn't gonna work."

"It has to," Sideswipe said, frustrated. "If you don't, I'll be permanently off line in less then twenty minutes."

"Hang on." The turtle surveyed the room, and then looked back up at the Transformer. "You can move your right arm a bit, right?"

"A little," Sideswipe confirmed. "Don't expect miracles, though."

"I won't. But if I tie a rope or something around the box, and then tie the other end to your finger, can you like, pull it out for me?"

"That would work." Sideswipe grinned weakly. "You're fairly smart for a creature that typically resides in a human's fish tank."

"Hardy-har-har," Mikey grumbled, pulling his long-tailed bandanna off. He pulled off his arm bands and knee pads and tied them altogether, putting together an odd-looking rope. Attaching one end to a side handle on the box, he limp-stumbled to Sideswipe's hand and tied it around the index finger. "Okay, pull."

Sideswipe was still braced on his hands to hold himself up, so all he did was jerk his hand back, a little more underneath his body. The patching box fairly flew out of the repair kit. Mikey grinned. "Awesome! It worked!"

"It was a good idea," Sideswipe told him. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm kind of eager to survive this experience. If I die, my brother will kill me."

Mikey laughed. "I actually get that," he said, moving underneath Sideswipe's chest plate. He disappeared from sight but he could still be heard. "Okay, I'm just gonna poke my head through your windshield here and take a look at this. Man, too bad Donnie isn't here. He'd fix you up in no time."

"Donnie is your genius brother," Sideswipe recalled.

"Yup. This'd be like, cakewalk for him." There was a pause. "Okay, I see a bunch of black tubes all leading to one big one--"

"One of the little tubes is leaking," the Lamborghini informed him. "You need to find it and patch it up."

There was another pause, which made Sideswipe a little concerned. "Mikey?"

"...sorry. Just catching my breath. My body isn't exactly thrilled that I'm doing something other then lying down and dying peacefully at the moment." Another pause. "Um, Sideswipe, that big fuel line of yours?"

"Yes?"

"It's got a small cut in it too."

Sideswipe froze. "It does?"

"Yeah. Looks like whatever cut through the smaller tube, finished the swipe just at the edge of your big one. It's a steady bleed, but it's small."

"So quit talking and start patching!"

"Aye, aye," came the tired, yet cheerful voice. Sideswipe saw Mikey come back out and open the box, scooping out a giant handful of the patching adhesive, close the lid, and go back under.

He could feel the adhesive being smeared over the lines, and immediately felt the difference it made. The slow leak he'd been feeling tapered off and stopped completely as the salve hardened in the stale air. A minute later, Mikey came back out, hands completely covered in black tar, and an air of satisfaction surrounding him. "Is it fixed?"

"So far, so good," Mikey told him tiredly. "Can I sit down down now?"

Without waiting for an answer, the turtle stumbled to its knees, and keeled over. Sideswipe started in alarm. "Mikey?!"

The turtle lay still as death.

----

**End Part 2**

I never expected this fic would get the reception it has. I'm thrilled you're all enjoying it so much. I hope this chapter matched your expectations. Thank you very much for reading this. :) Part three will be out very shortly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Unlikely Partners, 3/3

**Author:** Stormy1x2 (travelingstorm)  
**Rating:** PG

**Fandom:** TMNT/Transformers

**Word Count (Fic Portion)**:

**Summary:**

**Notes:** Done as part of lj's fanfic100 themes, theme #54 – **Air**. A fusion of the 2007 movie and old school Gen 1 (Season 2ish) because it has Sideswipe in it, and makes references to events in the movie.

**Additional: **I suppose I moved things kinda fast, but considering this was supposed to be a much-shorter 2-shot, I figure it's still doing pretty good. :) Pre-read done by Sabrina. Thanks girl!

----

----

When Mikey fell over in a heap, Sideswipe instinctively tried to reach out to catch the fleshling. Unfortunately for him, his physical well-being did not match his good intentions; his arm merely flopped left of center, and instead of catching the turtle, he barely managed to get the damaged arm back underneath his own body to keep him from falling forward and crushing him instead.

"That was smooth," he groused, mentally smacking himself. "Mikey?"

The super-charged energon Mikey had given him had boosted his systems a bit. Easily enough to perform a routine scan. He wasn't exactly sure of what he was looking for – human anatomy was not something he was an expert on, human Internet and Ratchet's lectures aside. Still, as far as he could tell, the turtle was in no immediate danger of expiring. His pulse, though a little weak, was steady, and most of the leaking had stopped from his various wounds. His bones were obviously still damaged – fingers, human, turtle, _whatever_ – did not look like _that_.

The turtle moaned a bit at his call, its face creased in pain even while unconscious. Sideswipe bit back a few of his favorite Seibertronian curses and tried to think of what he should do. Standard procedure dictated that he continue to try and contact his brother and the human authorities, who would begin rescue operations. Problem was, that scenario involved humans, which Mikey was not. Mikey had specifically requested that the humans not be brought in – he was certain that he would be experimented upon, and mindless torture on creatures not Decepticon in nature, was something Sideswipe could not - and would - not tolerate.

Well, first things first. He tried his radio again. If it didn't work, he had much bigger problems to worry about then calling humans. His patch job was holding, but it didn't change the fact that he still needed his own medical attention. "Sunny?"

Nothing. Just a faint hiss over the airwaves. Then, a crackle. "Sunstreaker?"

Another crackle. Then again. Something was trying to get through the static and contact him. "Come on, Daffy!"

Finally - "...call...slaggin' Daffy...beat you...die!"

"That's my happy Daffodil." Sideswipe grinned in relief at the curses making their way over the statick-filled channel. "Are you okay? You got a lousy connect going here."

"..-rew you, you reject from Subaru." Sunstreakers radio signal was growing in strength. "I didn't see your exhaust-sucking carcass up here to lend a hand against a missile-happy Starscream."

That explained the wonky radio. "He zapped you, didn't he?" Sideswipe snickered.

"I hate those slagging null rays," came the snarled retort. "And if you don't shut up, I'll hunt him down, strip the rays for my own collection, and use _you_ for target practice!"

"Aw, you really were concerned about me." Something he'd picked up about his brother, was that the more Sunstreaker told him off after a battle, the more worried he was. He'd never admit to caring though, and so Sideswipe had learned to read between the lines Megavorns ago. "Sunny, I got a situation here."

"Did you break an axle? Poor little sparkling."

"Stuff it, Sunshine. My central fuel line was cut."

There was a long moment of silence on the other end of the radio. "How long?" Terse. Hard. Chilling.

To anyone else, it would have been intimidating. However, this was _his_ brother, and Sideswipe knew what he was asking. _How long do you have left?_ "Relax, Sunny. I've got someone here who did a patch job for me. I'm good for now, but man, I'll be happy to set my optics on Ratchet when this is over."

"...you must be delirious. No one, not even the near-dead are ever happy to see Ratchet. The worse off a patient is, the shorter his temper gets, and the better his aim becomes."

Sideswipe snickered again. "Then he's gonna blow a gasket when he sees me."

There was another brief silence. Then, "Sides?"

That brought Sideswipe up short. There was real concern in Sunstreakers vocal unit. Enough playing around. "I'm okay, Sunny. Just a lot of dents and scrapes to touch up. Relax."

A snort came over the radio. "'Relax', he says. Whatever. Optimus said Jazz and Ironhide are the way. They'll be able to dig you out."

"And what's stopping you from doing that?" Sideswipe prodded. What was the other mech hiding? Sunstreaker normally would never entrust the safety of his brother to anyone, not even a fellow Autobot. "Did Starscream actually get the drop on you? Apart from those lovely null rays, o'course."

"I'm functioning," Sunstreaker said frostily. Any attack – real or even implied - on his personal performance was guaranteed to tick him off. Sideswipe had been the recipient of his rage many times over the years, the price for making the last crack too perfect to let drop.

"Uh-huh."

"Shut up. Anyway, the humans will want to know about the condition of the one with you, so they can be ready for any injuries."

Sideswipe's optics focused back on the injured turtle. "Yeah, about that..."

-----

Ironhide and Jazz sounded their horns as they drove into the blast zone. Finally within range of Sunstreaker's weakened radio, the yellow Lamborghini sent them an update through internal communications, as well as his location amidst the rubble.

Jazz transformed and leapfrogged a chunk of what used to be a floor in the ex-building. "Sunny, m'man!"

Laying on his back, arms folded, both covered and semi-propped up by a mound of debris on and behind him, the injured Autobot glared daggers in his direction. "Took your sweet time, didn't you?"

The black and white Porsche cocked his helm at the incapacitated 'Bot and grinned. "I'm thinking, ya might wanna try bein' a little nicer to me, Sunshine," he drawled. "I'm sure Ironhide would love to help get you out of here. 'Course I can't vouch for what's left of your paint job..."

Sunstreaker's optics widened. Ironhide had a grip as strong as his namesake, and more then one Autobot had required limb attachment as a result of his enthusiastic and less then gentle method of extracting someone. "This is me being nice," he shot back quickly, flashing a wide and completely false grin at the saboteur.

"S'what I thought man, that is most definitely what I thought." Jazz grinned, his visor glinting in the light, and he got to work, lifting up girders and I-beams, setting them aside. "Ironhide, why don'tcha see what's keeping us from our other damsel in distress?"

"Already on it, Jazz." Ironide's deep, gruff voice was slightly muffled. He was already in the crater caused by Starscreams missiles, methodically pulling debris out of his way. "My scanners are pointing me this way. Shouldn't take too long."

"His fuel line was cut," Sunstreaker told them. "He said a...friend, patched him up, but it won't hold forever." He locked optics with Jazz who read the unspoken words behind them. _Hurry up and get him out of there_.

"On it, Sunny, on it. Relax." Jazz paused for a second. "By the way, curious minds wanna know why you were so insistent that the identity of the poor unfortunate trapped with your brother stay anonymous? Things like this make officials worried that we might be covering up something."

"Yeah, well, tell those curious minds to stuff it up their collective tailpipe," Sunny muttered. "And uh, hello? Not break time, Jazz. I can feel dirt rolling down my chassis. This is not a good thing, you got me?"

"Poor, delicate, little sunflower." Jazz reached out and pat him on the head. "You obviously ain't that bad off if that's the worst you can find to complain about."

"Less talking. More moving."

"Yessir." Jazz chuckled and shoved a few more boulders off to the side. "So what's the deal with this human?"

Sunstreaker smirked. "That's the whole problem right there. It's not."

Jazz blinked curiously. "Not what?"

"Human."

----

Sideswipe's continued calling of the turtle's name finally had an effect. Mikey groaned and opened his eyes, staring blearily up at the devastated ceiling. "...'M I alive?"

"Not that you look like it, but yeah, you're alive." Sideswipe grinned at him. "Kinda glad you didn't die on me, ya know. Earth fleshies smell really bad when they die." He was amused - and intrigued – to see the sea-green turtle pale into a lighter shade, the kind of green Spike called 'puke'. "If you're gonna do what I think you're gonna do, you better turn around. My paint job's taken enough of a beating for one day."

"Thanks for the concern," Mikey gasped. He coughed a few times; the air was gritty, dusty. His ribs were sending searing hot flashes of pain through his entire body. His hands _ached_. "Are we trapped?"

"Temporarily," Sideswipe assured him. "Two buddies of mine are on the scene. They'll dig us out."

"Before or after the air runs out?" Mikey glanced nervously around at the debris-sealed room. "You may not have to worry about breathing, but I do."

"Better stop talking, then," Sideswipe advised.

"Ha. Ha. Ha."

Sideswipe grinned. "Okay, seriously, we have to figure something. I told my brother you're in here. He told Jazz and Ironhide. So far, no one's told the officials, though they believe someone's down here. They're going to be swarming over this area when I get out. What are you going to do?"

The turtle shrugged painfully. "Don't know. Thinking and planning is usually Donnie and Leo's thing, not mine." His eyes suddenly lit up. "Dude, your radio!"

"What about it?"

"It's working now, right? So, can you like, patch in to a different frequency? My shell-cell's busted, but maybe you can figure out what frequency it was on, ya know? Then I can contact my bros and figure out a plan."

Sideswipe looked at the tiny piece of machinery and shook his head. "I can't do anything with that. You need Ratchet, or even Blaster – he's one of our communications experts."

"Don't suppose you have a cell phone?"

"Nope."

Mikey's face fell. "So I'm on my own then, huh."

"Excuse me?" Sideswipe was mildly insulted. "I'm sitting right here."

"Heh, oh yeah." Mikey smiled sheepishly. "So, got any ideas?"

"Can you hide when I leave? Then your brothers can come get you later?"

Mikey took a long look at their 'prison'. Sideswipe followed his gaze, and guessed what he was thinking. No escape exits, except the area behind Sideswipe when he would be pulled out. Nothing to go through, ceiling-wise, nothing in the floor. The hallway was completely caved in just ahead of him. The room he'd been kept in, had no doors or windows. Sideswipe knew the turtle's answer before he gave it. "Nothing to work with there, dude." Mikey gazed up at him, and then his eyes lit up. "I can hide in you!"

"Me?"

"Yeah!" Mikey stopped for a second. "Well, if you don't mind, that is. I mean, the humans will come in after you get pulled out, to check for anyone in here. I already fit inside your chest plate once to save your life. Can I hide there when you get pulled out? And then once we're away from everyone else, you can let me go. I can call my brothers to come get me."

Sideswipe thought it over. He didn't particularly like having anyone – humans _or _turtles – in his car form, let alone his mech state, but he did owe the turtle his life. Giving him a ride out was the least he could do. "That could work," he allowed. When he looked back at the turtle, he was startled to see him coughing again. Blood erupted from his mouth at each explosive cough. It didn't look very good. "But I think you'd better see a medical officer of some kind. You are not supposed to be jettisoning your fuel supply like that."

"Tell me something I don't know," Mikey gasped, squeezing his eyes shut. "Oh my God, that _hurts_."

Sideswipe watched the turtle, and then craned his head to peer behind him at the rubble keeping him from freedom. _Hurry up_, he said, both inside his head and over his internal radio to his brother. He had a sinking feeling time was running out.

----

"What do you mean, keep the humans away completely?" Bumblebee said in confusion. "They need to get in there and see if anyone needs help!"

The little VW Bug had arrived not long after Jazz and Ironhide, and was standing guard. Jazz continued to dig away at Sunstreaker. He was almost completely free, but something had been damaged during Starscream's attack. Sunny couldn't move his legs, and his arms were slowly losing their functioning. Jazz paused in his unearthing, and looked up at the youngest Autobot, seeking out his blue optics, willing him to understand. "Just trust me, 'Bee. There's no other humans down there."

Bumblebee didn't look convinced. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Jazz. "You're hiding something."

Jazz nodded cheerfully. "Sure am," he agreed amiably. He didn't see the point in lying, especially when Bee was so good at seeing through them. "But you'll see soon enough, I promise. Just go over there, and make sure the humans stay back. It's still not an entirely stable area, so use that as your excuse. It's not like we need to worry about it as much as they do."

Bumblebee still looked skeptical, but he finally nodded and headed back. Jazz knew the 'Bot would carry out his orders. Bee was a good soldier. Young, but intelligent, and loyal to a fault. Compassionate, too. Bumblebee had developed a very strong tie to Earth, possibly even stronger then his sparked-bond with his home planet, and had a best friend in Sam Witwhickey, the earth native. Jazz was not surprised that Bumblebee had expressed so much concern for a human who may have been trapped.

"Are you quite finished your mooning, Jazz?" Sunstreaker huffed, drawing his attention back to the stranded mech.

The Porsche rolled his optics behind his visor. "Just about, Your Majesty," he quipped, and freed up the last bit of debris. He ran his scanners over the Lamborghini, and was relieved to see that most of the 'Bot was intact. A few things had come loose, resulting in Sunstreaker's paralyzing state, but he knew that short of a spark-death, there were very few things that Ratchet couldn't ultimately patch up. The humans had offered to help transport the injured Autobots back to their Portland base, sending a huge flatbed truck that Jazz now helped the incapacitated Sunstreaker to.

After getting the fussy warrior settled, Jazz turned and headed back to help Ironhide. Sideswipe needed medical help urgently, and besides, he kinda wanted to see what, exactly, a 'mutant turtle' looked like.

----

Sideswipe was worried. Though he didn't need to breathe, his scanners could still register the air quality around him, and the oxygen level was getting pretty thin. Mikey was still lying down, flat on his back, breathing shallowly. He had told Sideswipe it was something called 'meditation' – a way to slow down his breathing in order to conserve what little air there was left.

A quick scan on the Internet told him that what the turtle was attempting was theoretically impossible, and yet he seemed to be doing it. By his calculations, the air supply should have dwindled away to nothing, about twenty minutes ago, but there was still trace amounts remaining. It was interesting. He was sure Ratchet would think so too.

Rumbling noises sounded behind him, and Sunstreaker's voice came over the radio. "They found your ugly, over-sized feet," he informed him. "Jazz is helping Ironhide clear the tunnel. In a minute, they're gonna pull you out. Are you ready?"

"Just a minute," Sideswipe sent back. He looked over at the turtle, who still hadn't moved from his relaxed position. "Hey, Mikey. Mikey!"

"...mmmm?" A low, sleepy-sounding hum.

"We're getting out of here in a minute. If you're hitching a ride, now's the time to do it."

Mikey's eyes slid open, and he slowly sat up, wincing in pain as his ribs protested the movements. His breathing was even shallower, his face pale under ribbons of blood. The skin around his mouth had taken on a slight bluish tinge, and Sideswipe suddenly wondered if maybe the slow air intake had less to do with meditation and more to do with the fact that he was...

"C'mon," he urged him. "You can do it."

"...yeah...sure..." Mikey braced himself and slowly got to his feet, hunched over. He staggered a bit to the side, but kept to his feet, and slowly made his way over to the Autobot.

Sideswipe watched in sympathy. He couldn't even help the turtle climb in to the hatch in his chest plate. Mikey made it underneath him and then reached up into the shattered windshield, using damaged hands that refused to work properly to grip whatever handles he could reach. Hissing with pain, trying to stifle whimpers that did not go undetected to advanced audio receptors, he pulled himself up and inside, bracing with his legs as much as he could to take the strain off his broken hands. It wasn't the most comfortable fit, wedged in around what was the roof of his vehicle form, but he made it.

When Sideswipe was in an upright position, the turtle would settle in beneath the glass, hidden from sight by his panels. As long as he didn't move and kept his head down, none of the humans would see him.

"Sideswipe?"

"Ready when you guys are," he said out loud, and Ironhide must have been close enough to hear because as soon as he finished talking, he felt something grip him around the ankles and _pull_.

With his optics squeezed shut, he let out a surprised yelp as he went hurtling backwards. Debris crashed down overhead, filling the space his body had taken up. Back, back, back and then suddenly he was out in the air, looking up through a familiar crater view to the blue sky overhead.

"Oh, good," he said dazedly. "I'm back where I started from."

Ironhide's red helm filled his field of vision. "How you doin' there, son?" His voice was gruff, but his tone also held a touch of concern.

Sideswipe grinned. "Just great," he chirped. "Lovely day for a stroll through the sewers, don't you think?"

Ironhide shook his head, optics rolling. "Why do I even bother?" Wrapping an arm around the fallen 'Bot, he helped Sideswipe to his feet.

From overhead, Jazz let out his winch cable, lowering enough of it to be wrapped around Ironhide's forearm twice. "You boys about ready? I've got someone's mother hen up here, clucking in my audios."

Sideswipe laughed as he heard very familiar cursing from behind Jazz. "Tell Sunshine I'm on my way."

As they were pulled up, Ironhide glanced sideways at the Lamborghini. "How's your 'passenger'?" he asked quietly.

Sideswipe looked down at his chest plate. He couldn't see Mikey from his current vantage point, but he could feel him moving around weakly, trying to get comfortable. "Still alive," he said.

Ironhide nodded as they crested the top of the crater. Jazz rushed forward and helped lighten Ironhide's load by taking up residence on Sideswipe's other side. "What's the plan, boys?" He asked in a whisper.

"Get us away from here," Sideswipe told him. "He can call his brothers for a pick-up."

Jazz nodded and the three of them made their way over to the flatbed that held Sunstreaker. Sideswipe took one look at the mud-streaked mech, the soot marks, and grumpy expression on his siblings face and burst out laughing.

"Oh, that's nice," Sunny griped. "I sit here wondering if someone's about to inform me that I am an only sparkling, and you laugh at me."

"Just happy to see you bro, just happy to see you." Sideswipe groaned as Jazz and Ironhide set him down next to his brother. He ached, he was in desperate need of a wash station, and Ratchet was probably going to rebuild him as a can opener, but he was _free_. It felt so good.

"Do you really have an over-sized humanoid turtle in your chest?" Sunstreaker asked.

Sideswipe grinned.

----

It was getting dark by the time they finally got away from the humans and the destroyed complex. It had taken a long time to convince them that there were no other humans down there, that their scanners would have registered life forms if there were. Bumblebee and Jazz were staying behind for a minute, to answer questions and make sure the site was secure. Ironhide was playing workhorse, pulling the flatbed upon which Sideswipe and his brother were currently resting.

Once a decent distance away from the humans, Ironhide pulled over on an empty road across from a pay phone. Sideswipe looked down.

"Mikey?"

A low grumble. "What?"

"Telephone."

"Take a message."

Sunstreaker snickered, and Sideswipe rolled his optics. "No, Mikey. Telephone, as in, we found one. You need to call your brothers, remember?"

"...oh yeah."

There was a lot of slow movements, even more pained moans, and then Sideswipe could see green legs dangling from his busted windshield. Ironhide transformed and stepped over, holding his large hand under the turtle.

"I wouldn't jump, if you're as bad off as Sideswipe seems to think you are," he advised gruffly.

"Thanks." Mikey slid down, gasping with pain as he landed on the mech's palm. "Ohh...I'm gonna feel that in the morning," he groaned. "This is not my idea of a good time."

"You're alive," Sideswipe told him. "I'd say that's a pretty good thing."

"If you felt like I do, you'd change your mind." Mikey suddenly became aware of the three giant mechs studying him with interest. "Um, hi?"

Sunstreaker looked disgusted. "You had _that_ in your chest?" He shuddered. "Better you then me."

Mikey glared. "Gee, thanks."

Sideswipe chuckled. "Ignore the princess over there, Mikey. He'd have done the same thing." His grin grew a little wider. "We'd just be hearing about it longer."

Sunstreaker snorted, but didn't say anything.

Ironhide carried him over to the phone booth and set him down. Mikey made his phone call, and Sideswipe guessed that his brothers were more then a little upset. Shouts emitted from the receiver as soon as Mikey said 'hello', and several times, the turtle had to hold the handset away from his head. Mikey finally gave his current location and then hung up, turning back to face the three mechs with a smile.

"They're on their way," he said. Then his legs gave out, and he sat down hard. "Ow!"

"Your brother is a trained medical officer?" Ironhide asked. "Because you need medical attention."

"He just plays one on TV," Mikey mumbled, slowly getting back up and crawling into Ironhide's hand. "He can fix anything though. This is just minor stuff, really. Wrap the ribs, tape the fingers, stuff like that."

"If you say so." Ironhide didn't look convinced. A black and white Porsche and a yellow VW bug suddenly pulled up. Mikey yelped and tried in vain to hide behind Ironhide's fingers.

Sideswipe grinned. "Relax, Mikey. It's Jazz and Bumblebee."

Mikey peeked over the rim of Ironhide's fingers and watched in awe as the two 'Bots transformed. "That is so cool."

Jazz chuckled. "I do love an appreciative audience." He moved closer, peering down at the turtle. "And you are certainly a unique member of it."

"Umm...thanks?"

"Let me see!" Bumblebee waved at Ironhide, too short to see Mikey from that height. Ironhide shared an amused smile with the other 'Bots and then lowered his hand. Bumblebee gave Mikey a cheerful smile. "Hi! I'm Bumblebee!"

"I'm Mikey, current tourist attraction," Mikey said, reaching out with both hands to shake the smaller 'Bots finger. "Nice to meet you!"

"No, Bumblebee, you can't take him home no matter how much you promise to feed and take care of him," Sideswipe droned. "One pet human is enough."

Mikey looked warily at him. "Say what?"

"He's joking," Bee told him, sending Sideswipe an annoyed look. "My best friend is a human named Spike."

"Uh-huh."

Bumblebee grinned even wider. "Did you really mutate out of green slime?"

Mikey blinked. "Umm..."

----

By the time Mikey finished telling his story, the sun was gone completely. As he wound down, Mikey suddenly looked up. The Autobots followed his look, but didn't see anything. Mikey grinned.

"My brothers are almost here," he said. "You can leave now, if you want to."

"We have to be getting back to base," Ironhide said. "We have a report to file with Prowl, and the twins here need help of their own."

"I don't know," Sideswipe mused thoughtfully. "Having a Sunstreaker that can't move, completely at my mercy, could be a good thing." He used his hands to frame his brother. "I'm thinking, pink polka dots, and a wreath of daisies. What do you think Jazz?"

"Maybe some lace," Jazz suggested, playing along. "Or a nice, Autobot-sized dress with ribbons."

"I hate you all," Sunstreaker said flatly. "You can all go to the Scrap Heap."

Ironhide lowered Mikey to the ground. The turtle stepped off his palm and leaned against the phone booth wall. "You sure yer gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," Mikey said. "I promise."

Ironhide nodded, and then transformed, backing up to the flatbed. Jazz waved at Mikey. "Take care of your self, little buddy," he said, and went to hitch Ironhide up.

Bumblebee crouched down next to the turtle. "I'm glad I met you," he said cheerfully. "It's too bad you can't come to Portland with us. Hound would just love to meet you!"

"That's what Sideswipe said," Mikey grinned weakly. "See ya, 'Bee."

Sideswipe waved from the flatbed. "Make sure you get medical attention," he instructed brusquely. "I don't wanna find out I wasted my time saving your sorry butt only to find out you died, got it?"

"Who saved who?" Mikey shot back. "I believe I was the one that patched your fuel line, dude."

Sideswipe waved that away. "Details, details." He winked. "If you ever find yourself in Portland, look us up, okay?"

"Deal."

Sunstreaker didn't look like he was going to say anything, but as Ironhide revved his engine, he called out. "Turtle!"

Mikey raised an eye ridge. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for saving my idiot spark plug of a brother."

"Any time."

Ironhide blasted his horn, and the convoy pulled out, Bumblebee taking point, and Jazz following behind to make sure no one fell off. Sideswipe watched Mikey get smaller and smaller. Suddenly, he blinked his optics in surprise as three shadows suddenly jumped down from a nearby building. He could see the smile on Mikey's face practically light up the surrounding area before he was gathered up and taken away. Seconds later, there was nothing left by the dimly-lit phone booth to ever prove they were there.

After another minute, Sideswipe turned his optics back on his own brother, knowing how Mikey must feel to be with his family again.

As they continued on through the night, heading for home, Sideswipe wondered if he'd ever see his new friend again.

He hoped so.

**---- **

**----**

**End**

**End Notes: **

It's done! The fic that would not end is finally finished!!!

Special thank you's to Sabrina for reading this, and to all the people who reviewed and gave me the motivation to see this fic through. Tri-stripe, Gohanz Girl, and Just-Caro who have followed a few of my fics now – thanks for putting up with yet another one. :) Dierdre, thanks for the lovely words. I appreciate them. All the people who commented on LJ, I already thanked, but here's another thank you.

See you next time!


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